2013 IGS Techreport SIRGAS Part Sanchez 2014
2013 IGS Techreport SIRGAS Part Sanchez 2014
2013 IGS Techreport SIRGAS Part Sanchez 2014
The SIRGAS reference frame is calculated weekly. The SIRGAS–C network is processed
by the Deutsches Geodätisches Forschungsinstitut (DGFI, Germany) since this institute
acts as the IGS Regional Network Associate Analysis center for SIRGAS (IGS RNAAC
SIR, Sanchez (2012), (2013)). The SIRGAS–N networks are computed by the SIRGAS Lo-
cal Processing centers, which operate under the responsibility of national Latin American
organisations. At present, the SIRGAS Local Processing centers are: CEPGE (Ecuador),
CPAGS–LUZ (Venezuela), IBGE (Brazil), IGAC (Colombia), IGM–Cl (Chile), IGN–Ar
(Argentina), INEGI (Mexico), and SGM–Uy (Uruguay). These processing centers deliver
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3 Kinematics of the SIRGAS reference frame
loosely constrained weekly solutions for the SIRGAS–N national networks, which are com-
bined with the SIRGAS–C core network to get homogeneous precision for station positions
and velocities. The individual solutions are combined by the SIRGAS Combination centers
currently operated by DGFI (Germany) and IBGE (Brazil).
The SIRGAS processing centers follow unified standards for the computation of the loosely
constrained solutions (e.g., Costa et al. (2012), Natali et al. (2009), Seemüller et al.
(2012)). These standards are generally based on the conventions outlined by the IERS
and the GNSS–specific guidelines defined by the IGS; with the exception that in the
individual SIRGAS solutions the satellite orbits and clocks as well as the Earth orien-
tation parameters (EOP) are fixed to the final weekly IGS values (SIRGAS does not
compute these parameters), and positions for all stations are constrained to ±1 m (to
generate the loosely constrained solutions in SINEX format). INEGI (Mexico) and IGN–
Ar (Argentina) employ the software GAMIT/GLOBK (Herring et al. 2010); the other
local processing centers use the Bernese GPS Software Ver. 5.0 (Dach et al. 2007). At
the moment, the SIRGAS Local Processing centers align their procedures to the new
standards described in the IERS Conventions 2010 (Petit and Luzum 2010) and to the
characteristics specified by the IGS for the second reprocessing of the IGS global network
(http://acc.igs.org/reprocess2.html). The IGS RNAAC SIR applies these new stan-
dards since July 2013 and is employing the Bernese GNSS Software Ver. 5.2 (Dach et al.
(2007), (2013)). It is expected that the other processing centers start delivering solutions
based on the new standards in January 2014.
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The standards applied for the generation of the weekly free normal equations for the new
cumulative SIRGAS solution are:
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5 Multi–year solution SIR13P01
rameters are estimated according to the model of Chen and Herring (1997);
• Tidal corrections for solid Earth tide, permanent tide, and solid Earth pole tide are
applied as described in Petit and Luzum (2010). The ocean tide loading is reduced
with the FES2004 model (Letellier 2004) and the atmospheric tidal loading caused
by the semidiurnal constituents S1 and S2 is reduced following the model of van Dam
and Ray (2010). The reduction coefficients for the ocean tide loading are provided
by M.S. Bos and H.–G. Scherneck at http://holt.oso.chalmers.se/loading. The
reduction coefficients for the atmospheric tidal loading are provided by T. van Dam
at http://geophy.uni.lu/ggfc-atmosphere/tide-loading-calculator.html
• Ocean or atmospheric tide geocenter coefficients are not applied since this correction
is already contained in the final IGS (and CODE) products;
• Non–tidal loadings as atmospheric pressure, ocean bottom pressure, or surface hy-
drology are not reduced;
• Daily free normal equations are computed by applying the double difference strategy
using the Bernese GNSS Software Ver. 5.2 (Dach et al. (2007), (2013)). The baselines
are created taking into account the maximum number of common observations for
the associated stations;
• The seven daily free normal equations corresponding to a GPS week are combined
for computing a weekly free normal equation. Stations with large residuals in any
daily normal equation (more than ±20 mm in the horizontal component or more
than ±30 mm in the vertical component) are reduced from the corresponding daily
equation and the weekly combination is recomputed.
The input data for this new cumulative solution are the weekly free normal equations
covering the time span from April 2010 (GPS week 1580) to June 2013 (GPS week 1744).
Given that most of the existing ITRF stations in South America are affected by the
earthquake in Chile in February 2010 (see e.g. Sánchez et al. 2013), further stations
located in Europe, Africa, Oceania and North America (Fig. 2) are included in the SIRGAS
computations to increase the availability of fiducial points.
Before combining the weekly normal equations, a time series analysis is performed to
identify outliers and discontinuities in the station positions. The thresholds for outliers
are defined by ±15 mm for north and east and ±30 mm for height (about fourfold the
mean RMS). If outliers appear sporadically (without pattern), the station is reduced from
the respective free normal equation. If outliers reflect a discontinuity, a new position is
set up for the station. Once outliers are reduced and discontinuities are identified, the
weekly normal equations are combined to a multi–year solution setting up constant station
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Figure 2: Horizontal velocities of the SIRGAS multi–year solution SIR13P01: it covers the time
span from April 2010 to June 2013, includes 108 SIRGAS core stations and refers to
ITRF2008, epoch 2012.0. (Stations with labels are fiducial points).
velocities (i.e. only linear station position variations are considered). The geodetic datum
is realised by applying not–net–rotation and not–net–translation conditions with respect
to the ITRF2008 coordinates (Altamimi et al. 2011) of selected IGb08 reference stations
(Fig. 2). This procedure is carried out using the Bernese GNSS Software Ver. 5.2 (Dach
et al. 2007)
The result of this computation is called solution SIR13P01 (Fig. 2). It includes positions
and velocities for 108 SIRGAS core stations referring to the ITRF2008, epoch 2012.0.
Its estimated precision is ±1.4 mm (horizontal) and ±2.5 mm (vertical) for the station
positions at the reference epoch, and ±0.8 mm/yr (horizontal) and ±1.2 mm/yr (vertical)
for the constant velocities. Stations showing very irregular post–seismic movements, like
CONZ (Concepción, Chile) or ANTC (Antuco, Chile), are excluded because constant
velocities (linear movements) are insufficient to model their behaviour (Fig. 3).
To evaluate the reliability of the SIR13P01 solution, different comparisons were performed
(Tab. 1). The first comparison concentrates on the dissimilarities of the station positions
and velocities at the fiducial points, i.e. the ITRF2008 values are compared with the
values obtained in the SIR13P01 solution for the reference stations. The same procedure
is repeated in a second comparison, but only taking into account those ITRF stations that
were not used as fiducial points. Finally, the third comparison collates station position and
velocities of the present solution with those values estimated in the last SIRGAS multi–year
solution computed before the earthquake in February 2010 (i.e. the SIR10P01 solution,
Seemüller et al. (2010)). The first and the second comparisons show the agreement between
the new SIRGAS solution and ITRF2008; the third comparison should provide information
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5 Multi–year solution SIR13P01
Figure 3: Time series of stations strongly affected by the Chilean earthquake in February 2010
(Concepción and Antuco).
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SIRGAS RNAAC
Table 1: Comparison of the present SIR13P01 solution with ITRF2008 and the former solution
SIR10P01 (computed before the Chilean earthquake in February 2010)
N E U N E U
about changes in the SIRGAS frame caused by the strong earthquake in Chile.
The discrepancies (for station positions and velocities) at fiducial points are within the
coordinate accuracy of the ITRF2008 solution. Therefore, one could conclude that the
new SIRGAS solution is appropriately aligned to this frame and it can be considered as its
regional densification in Latin America and the Caribbean. The magnitudes obtained from
the other two comparisons are on the contrary very large, in particular in the East compo-
nent (Fig. 4). This means that older reference frame solutions (ITRF2008 or SIR10P01)
differ significantly from the new realisation. Main reasons for this disagreement are:
• ITRF2008 and SIR10P01 do not reflect the effects (co–seismic and post–seismic
movements) caused by the earthquake of February 2010 in the Southern part of
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5 Multi–year solution SIR13P01
Figure 4: Horizontal (left) and vertical (right) residual position (upper two figures) and velocity
(lower two figures) vectors between the SIR10P01 (before the earthquake in February
2010) and the SIR13P01 solutions.
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SIRGAS RNAAC
South America;
• The weekly input solutions for ITRF2008 and SIR10P01 were computed with respect
to the IGS05 frame, while SIR13P01 was computed with respect to the IGS08/IGb08
frame;
• Troposphere effects in SIR10P01 and SIR13P01 are modelled differently. Although
the atmosphere parameters estimated within the network adjustment (∼ wet part)
are very similar (some mm of discrepancy), the a priori zenith delay values (∼ dry
part) differ by up to 5 cm, especially at those stations located in the tropical region;
• The datum realisation in SIR10P01 and SIR13P01 is based on different fiducial
points. While the old solution includes reference stations located in Latin America
only, the new solution also comprises reference stations located several thousand km
away.
6 Outlook
Immediate plans concentrate on the reprocessing of the weekly SIRGAS normal equations
backwards until January 1997 applying the new standards and considering the entire
network. Therefore, the IGS RNAAC SIR takes care of the computations from 1997 until
August 2008, when the first SIRGAS Local Processing centers started operating. From
September 2008 until December 2013, the reprocessing includes the combination of the
individual (reprocessed) solutions delivered by the SIRGAS Local Processing centers for
the SIRGAS–N national networks.
7 Acknowledgements
The operational infrastructure and results described in this report are only possible thanks
to the active participation of many Latin American and Caribbean colleagues, who not
only make the measurements of the stations available, but also operate SIRGAS Analysis
centers processing the observational data on a routine basis. This support and that pro-
vided by the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and the Pan–American Institute
for Geography and History (PAIGH) is highly appreciated. More details about the activ-
ities and new challenges of SIRGAS, as well as institutions and colleagues working on can
be found at http://www.sirgas.org.
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